Abstract
Drifke, Tiger, and Gifford (2019) showed that preschool-aged children’s preferences for otherwise equated choice- and no-choice conditions could be shifted by pairing either condition with higher quality stimuli (either higher preference or larger magnitude edibles). The current study replicated this arrangement and examined changes in equated choice and no-choice selections when each were intermittently associated with either immediate or delayed access to preferred stimuli. Similar to Drifke et al., these pairings produced reliable and systematic shifts in participant preferences.
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Notes
As an indicator of the integrity of the independent variable, Trevor selected the immediately available edible item on 97% of trials during conditioning sessions.
Sean selected the immediate option on 96% of trials during conditioning sessions.
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Special thanks to John and Lynn Schiek for their generous financial support and to Amber Allen for assistance with data collection.
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This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. We certify that the study was performed in accordance with the 1964 Helskinki Declaration and its later amendments.
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Gifford, M.R., Drifke, M.A., Tiger, J.H. et al. Shifting Preferences for Choice-Making Opportunities through Histories of Differential Reinforcer Immediacy. Psychol Rec 72, 25–31 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00452-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00452-9